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B.C. residents are once again being asked to pay more in health care premiums — another four per cent as of Jan. 1, 2014, on top of a four-per-cent increase that went into effect at the beginning of this year.

The rate will jump to $69.25 for a single person per month, and $138.50 for families of three or more.

Quebec is the only other province in Canada that assesses premiums. In its budget on Tuesday, the B.C. government said Medical Services Plan premiums are necessary to help fund increasing health care costs. Finance Minister Mike de Jong said the increase amounts to an additional $5 or $6 a month for individuals.

“I think people understand ... that health care is not free,” he said.

About 25 to 30 per cent of premiums are paid through companies, as taxable employee benefits. The government says just over 800,000 residents pay no premiums because of their low-income status, and about 200,000 more are subsidized. There are about 4.6 million people registered with the Medical Services Plan.

Premiums raise about $2 billion a year for government coffers. But annual provincial health costs are currently just over $17 billion and are expected to rise to $19 billion in 2015.

The MSP increase comes as a new report shows that B.C. health consumers are among the heaviest out-of-pocket spenders in the country, fuelled largely by private-sector costs like health insurance premiums, prescription medications and long-term care.

Despite the perception that health care in Canada is “free,” publicly funded coverage pertains only to doctors and hospitals. Out-of-pocket spending includes that spent on premiums if they aren’t paid by employers, dentists and other non-medical health practitioners (such as massage, chiropractors, naturopaths), prescription drugs, vision (glasses, contacts), and nursing homes.

Such private spending is climbing across Canada, with annual per-capita spending in 2010 of $1,569 ($1,594 in B.C.), according to an online study by University of B.C. researchers. Per-capita health spending in B.C. (including public- and private-sector spending) is about $5,000 a year, just under the national average.

“Yes, there is always more to spend money on when it comes to health care services and providers,” said co-author Michael Law in an interview.

“But prescription drug costs account for the bulk of that. I think the take-away message here is that individuals shouldn’t be counting on the public program to pay for everything. It’s prudent to retire with money.

“But hopefully, policy-makers will eventually implement a drug coverage program because many people can’t afford prescription medications,” said Law.

Using data from Statistics Canada’s annual survey of household spending, the group from The Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at UBC calculated spending on health insurance premiums and payments on six different types of health care services.

They found there has been a 37-per-cent increase in such spending since 1998. Households in B.C. and the Atlantic provinces, and those that included a senior or with a low-income family, were more likely to spend more than 10 per cent of their after-tax income on health care.

Law said many people around the world would be surprised that Canadians shoulder a huge burden in private health care costs, the third highest of developed nations, after the United States and Switzerland.

“We found that health care expenditures faced by Canadian households are substantial and have increased considerably over the past decade,” the study says, noting that B.C. residents are nearly twice as likely to experience private health care costs exceeding 10 per cent of their after-tax income than those in Ontario, largely because the Pharmacare program here is less generous.

A universal drug coverage program that helps fund generic and selected classes of popular drugs would go a long way to helping B.C. residents who are struggling with health care costs, Law said. As well, he said premiums should become more of a progressive tax, rising with income levels, so that millionaires aren’t paying the same premiums as those earning far less.

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MSP premiums to rise for second straight year

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